Reflective and Adaptive Interaction Systems: Designing Non-Forcing Loops for Stable Engagement

This paper presents a methods-level framework for designing interaction systems that achieve stability without force. It formalises reflective, non-coercive interaction loops as a system architecture in which feedback functions as signal rather than instruction, progression remains voluntary, and stability emerges through pacing, interruptibility, and bounded response rather than control. The framework defines a four-stage reflective interaction cycle and specifies structural conditions for feedback without coercion, micro-interruptibility, adaptive convergence through response, load tolerance, and separation between interaction and evaluation layers. This work is strictly structural and pre-analytic. It does not propose behavioural change programs, psychological mechanisms, optimisation strategies, or therapeutic claims. The contribution is an interaction design method situated downstream of orientation-first design and bounded regulation, and upstream of applied user experience, learning, or care-adjacent systems.